Aus Open Day 2 - Big guns progress, but who looked best?

0:10Well, hello and welcome to the tennis podcast coming to you from tennis podcast towers Melbourne on day two of the Australian Open. It is shortly after midnight and we've just watched a sensation lose live on Channel 9. So we're having a well-rounded Australian Open experience today. And spoiler alert, Alexi Popperin not in the running for Sensation of the Day. It is a close-fought contest today. So make sure you stick with us for that in part three and for discussion of today's men's matches in part two. We start today, though, with the women, because once again, we've had some serious drama from those matches today.

0:54Unfortunately, no Elsa Giacomo on the schedule. So who knows what got Matt's pulse racing today? Potentially, Iga Sviantek, the second seed, because despite it being straight set, 7-6, 6-3 on the Rod Laver Arena night session tonight, her match against Yuan Yui, I thought was, particularly in the first set, of extraordinarily high quality. Yuan Yui served for it at 5-4, maybe got a little bit tight. But honestly, the fact that this was as close as it was, I put down to Yuan Yui pulling out a pretty exceptional performance. I thought Shvantec was pretty great tonight, Matt. I don't know whether you read it differently.

1:44I didn't think she was great at the start. I thought she came out looking like a player, searching for some confidence, and definitely seemed quite shaky early on. Her serve, she was having issues with that shot again, and Yuan Yui was taking good advantage of it, and twice managed to be up a break in that first set, and as you said, served for it at 5-4. Shontek was also quite bothered by her skirt. She tried to rip it at one point. Yes, and changed it at the end of the first set and came out in the second set in some shorts and seemed a lot happier in those. So, yeah, I don't quite know why that was such a problem for her, but it clearly was.

2:39yeah look 2019 was the last time Iguys Fiontech lost a set in the opening round of a major she usually comes through these extremely comfortably without too much fuss whatsoever that stat is still alive she won tonight in straight sets but it was just much closer than you would normally expect and I do think Ioannui had a big part to play in that very persistent fought hard, played well she's a good athlete isn't she She is and she was not sort of intimidated I didn't think by the occasion. I was very impressed with her actually and I think Shevante is in that slight zone at the moment where I think top player, players sense an opportunity and they're maybe also sensing a little bit of vulnerability in her and they're bringing it.

3:30I feel like she's constantly coming up against people playing really well at the moment. And that's something that as a top player, you just have to ride, I think. So shaky start, but I did think Shvantec found her game in this one and did some of the things that we're looking for her to be doing, playing with a bit more margin, counterpunching a little bit. Did that in the latter half of this match pretty well and ends up coming through in straight sets, but was pushed. and you know sometimes that can help sharpen you up so let's see whether she comes out in her next match more convincing from the start yeah I have to say I miss most of those early stages or other I was very much in a multi-screening situation in those early stages once I really zeroed in on this match towards the end of the first set I thought Shvante considering she was under such stress and school board pressure at that point you know that's what we're looking at with front take isn't it absolutely can she do it can she she play the same way that she plays when she's front running when she's under serious stress and at the end of that first set I thought she did I thought that was a real test pass I can't there was a part of me that wanted to see whether she was able to do it if she lost the first set but I'm quite sure there will be other opportunities to to test that from Iga Shontek over over the course of the fortnight but the test that she did face tonight David she really passed it yeah she got pushed and and you you find out a little bit about you where your game is in that in that situation and um and I think that that's it's quite an unusual situation for her to be in it at a grand slam i mean there have been grand slams that she hasn't won but very often she's gone into them as the favorite for the title or one of the very biggest favorites and look she still is in that she's in the mix right i would not be surprised if she won this title um but she's not in the sort of form that we've seen over the last four or five years that she's gone into most Grand Slam tournaments even if she's ended up not not winning them and maybe having a disappointing loss so it's kind of a new territory to me at least for her and and I'm fascinated to watch her just try to find a route through because you know she lost the sets on the way to the Wimbledon title this year against Katie McNally and if if somebody told me that she's winning the title when she lost that set to Katie McNally I would not have expected that so it may just click she may find it during this tournament and um and that would be fun wouldn't it if she if she just found that form when Sabalenka's already in her Australian Open form and there are one or two others that are in great form too i'd love to see that so shantek in the mix shock is mira and draver the adelaide champion david in your mix we haven't really had a very thorough in the mix chat have we it's a very good question on the cusp isn't she yeah i think i think that's probably because because instinctively I'm going to say no, and yet I rate her so highly, and because we saw what she did in the first four months of last year, I know she can beat anybody in this draw, and yet I still, and she won the tournament last week without dropping a set, but again she lost the first set tonight, and that's happened three times this year, I asked her about that in the press conference afterwards, the fact that she's lost the first set in in three matches this time it's against donna she was hitting the living daylights out of her forehand for a set and a half and really looked dangerous tonight um but there was no panic in mir andreva that was what interested me and that's what i asked her about i said um do you feel maybe that a couple of years ago you might have panicked and she actually reminded me and everybody i mean maybe everybody else in the room was thinking about this but i i had i'd forgotten all about it the way she used to get down on herself and just start frankly throwing a tantrum on a court you know and she was so petulant she'd be giving everybody in her team a mouthful and she would just be childish really i mean look she is 18 and she was 16 back then when all that was going on and and i remember the the conchita martinez eye roll when they first started started working together she does good eye yeah it was an affectionate eye roll but it was kind of putting me in my place for suggesting that she might have got over all those things this was 18 months ago at the french open well i think she has got over them now or at least there have been major strides taken because she she said look i know you all know that that is what I do sometimes or that I don't find it easy to kind of withstand a disappointment.

8:49I'm paraphrasing here, but that's the gist of what she said. And she was pointing to the fact that she used to have these outbursts. And she says, we're working really hard at them to try and so that they don't happen. And the fact that I'd forgotten all about them tells me that she's made major strides because I put it to her, you don't get very long in a best of three set match. And if you go down a set or even a break, you've got your work cut out. And yet she just gives you the sense that it's all under control now. And her game is in her control. Well, that was what I saw tonight. I mean, I think in terms of her tennis and her physicality, she's in any mix as far as I'm concerned.

9:32From what I saw tonight, I was pretty, look, I got there midway through the second set, which was when Donna Vekic's challenge faded and we, David, were watching on the screen. I was up until that point and, you know, you were making noises at the Vekic forehand. She was cracking it right out of the centre of the racket. And I know Pam, who doesn't officially work with Donna at all anymore, but obviously still has a lot of affection for her and follows her very closely. She was watching tonight and she was really heartened by what she saw from Donna Vekic for a set and a half. But what I saw when I arrived on the second court tonight was first of all, I had a moment of being quite taken aback by seeing Miran Draver in real life.

10:21And I had deja vu because I realised I feel that every time I see her in real life. She is quite something as a physical presence. You just don't expect it from a teenager. it's Coco Goff-esque okay Coco Goff is the best athlete in the sport but I'm telling you she is so imposing and so impressive as a physical specimen it really takes you aback to see in real life she's one of those that's deceptively tall and so strong it it really bowled me over and then I proceeded to see her play this perfect set of tennis six love against in the final set against okay Donna Vekic who was fading physically but it was like watching an analog player against a a digital player like Mirandreva was playing chess and Donna Vekic was playing snakes and ladders you know like she she she she's got serious weapons feckage fine she absolutely does i'm a big fan of her game when it's on but she won seven points in that deciding set she was she was schooled by a teenager i'm sure that was tough for her to take but the toolbox that Mirandreva has is so exquisite and I think it's good for her to to be winning with adversity I do because adversity has been her struggle is adversity has been weathering adversity has been what's been holding her back right the Boisson match at at the French Open last year is the most extreme example of it and you know facing a baying Philippe Chattrier crowd is is about as adverse as adversity gets I realize that but the the tennis is there as far as I'm concerned yeah I think the only uh case that I could make for why I'm not putting her in the mix like just instinctively because you've both absolutely laid out all the reasons why she could well be is the draw you know and like if the draw it's all about the draw with you isn't it Matt?

12:52it always is the draw matters everyone if the draw holds up to even get to the final she'd have to go through Goff and Sabalenka and those are the matchups which have been problematic for her she's never beaten Coco Goff in four attempts and okay she does have a couple of wins over Sabalenka one of them Sabalenka was extremely compromised at the French Open I don't really count that one that was not Sabalenka she did beat her in the Indian Wells final which is absolutely legitimate and a very good performance and relevant and relevant it was an odd Sabalenka performance she massively faded in that and And I think Sambalenka in a major is a different proposition.

13:35And that would even be to get to her first major final. And most likely she'd be playing someone more experienced than her. So there's just a lot that she's going to have to do if the draw holds up in one tournament for Andrava to actually win it. But we've definitely seen wilder things. and like she is capable and sometimes you get a young player and they just need a tournament and a moment for it kind of all to to come together and and she does feel like she's been in that situation for a while and now with these improvements and this increased maturity maybe it's going to happen but right now I would I would probably fall down on not in the mix just because of that and having to sort of run the gauntlet there like that yeah okay I defer to the draw master no you look you're absolutely right i do think it it's going to happen one of these times pretty pretty soon do you know what occurred to me when you were talking about it there and and the thought of her having to play potentially goff and sabaline to reach the final i thought of us doing andy murray's near misses as a friend's podcast on the eve of this tournament of tennis relived show in which we talked about how murray against nadal suddenly realized he got to smash his backhand much more aggressively than he normally would and then he developed the forehand and the lendle and i think that at some point for andreva to win one of these tournaments which i believe she can and will she's actually going to have to hit out of her comfort zone and and find something that hurts right because i probably would have been saying exactly the same about madison keys last year like how is she going to beat all of these players we're back in and Sviante and Sabalenka, one of the most extraordinary runs to a major title there's ever been.

15:23And she did it by hitting out. She's always had that power. Obviously, it is her natural game. But to do that relentlessly and beat these players one after the other, I do think you've got to be playing it on your terms, like the way Keys did. And obviously, I think Andreva had a very similar run at Indian Wells last year to what Keys had at the Australian Open. She did beat a lot of these players top players consecutively. She is capable, but majors are different. But look, the signs are great. She started the year so well, Androva, with just looking fresh again. And yeah, it's really good to see because her game is such an addition to the already excellent pool of top players that there are.

16:09Yeah, you can see she's an Andy Murray fan. Her game, it reminded me of watching Andy Murray and how you'd be watching Andy Murray and think, oh, well, he's stolen that point. He's won that point that he had no right to win and oh, he's done it again, oh, he's done it again. And you think each one is an isolated sort of bit of luck or, you know, something improbable. Every time you think, okay, but he can't win a whole tennis match like that, can you? And like, oh, he has. And he's done it again. He's done it again. and he's made a whole career out of it. That is, that's how I felt about Mira Andreva tonight.

16:48It was, it was a real joy to watch her. So that was Andreva on the night session on the second court day session on Rod Laver Arena was opened by Coco Gough, who cruised today. It was comfortable for her against Camilla Rakimova, 6-2, 6-3, 7 double faults and 31 unforced errors, though. You know, the demons are lurking in that scoreline. Yeah, it's not like she's walked in here and is blemish-free, really, in terms of those things. And that's probably never going to be the game. She's got to reckon with these elements of her base game. but six of those seven double faults did come in the first set.

17:42So she cleaned things up in the second. And I found it very interesting in the press conference talking about how she's got to hit it harder. She's got to go for it more because in the second set when she actually went after it more, it was more reliable, which sounds almost counterintuitive really. But then I get it because the players often say you've got to let your arm go. you know you've got to finish the shot um and um and so look again a little bit like you were saying earlier on about igas vante you've got to start somewhere you've got to make sure you're still in this tournament come the second round it doesn't really matter if you if you don't play lights out in the first round in fact you probably don't want to you want you want to be well you want to peak for a start but i think it's it's reasonable to be trying to just iron a few crinkles out really in the first round of a grand slam and probably two and three as well and is that what amanda and some over was doing today matt against simona volta 6-3-6-2 about uh a setting a bit into this matt told us it was a terrible match it was i mean it was it was really bad between them they combined for nine winners and 31 unforced errors in the first set you know and like glad i missed it it's not about me but i always feel a little bit bad when i'm out on a court watching amanda nissamova and the pod fans everywhere and it's a dud you've just ruined their day I always feel a bit like I mean I know they're not here for me you know they're here for an Isamova but I always feel like just like almost like it's a little bit my fault well it is your fault like I've told everyone that this is this amazing player and playing like that like oh no but clean things up in the second set massively and the serve in particular was excellent in the second set for her um and I liked her attitude in in the press conference afterwards she knew that it was by no means her best tennis in that first set by the way she was never under any real jeopardy and even though she wasn't playing well I never thought she was going to lose even a set in this match she just had such a clear weight of shot advantage um but what I liked about the press conference was that I think she's not going to let a performance like that get to her she said there's no need to overthink that I think she she's confident in the level that she has now and that she's shown before that why should this performance, where she's a little bit off it in the first set, mean more than everything she's built up over the last nine months or so.

20:29And I think she had that really in perspective. And I think what she's just looking for in these first few matches is just to get through them without expending too much energy and preferably find a bit of feel and form that she's not really quite had this season. but there were some signs that it was coming in that second set. So, yeah, like not a vintage Anissimova match or performance, but got the job done. Such a different situation for Amanda Anissimova and her followers to be in compared to 12 months ago, less than 12 months ago. She plays a, your words not mine, Matt Roberts, terrible match or terrible half match in round one.

21:16and you think well you don't you don't want to peak in round one because she's here for the long haul and i back her to play away into this tournament and make it to the long haul like it just feels like that's par now from andrew and some over not necessarily to reach the final as she has done at the last two slams but but maybe and certainly to be a factor at the latter stages It was 12 months ago that she was losing in the second round to Emma Raducanu here. And that wasn't a shock. She's totally transformed her status in the game in a really short period of time. But I suppose in another sense in quite a long period of time.

21:59So there you go. She's amazing. Matt, you also watched a lot of Deanna Schneider beating Barbora Krejcikova on the KIA arena. which for a set, David and I were watching this on the screens, I was a bit distracted by Bertrand van der Zandershoek because... A bit? I just can't take my eyes off.

22:21I look forward to your review of that. He beat the 28th seed. He took out Brandon Nakashima. He looked totally unbothered. But I... I mean, he loves playing a seed. Yeah, he does. I'm worried about the next round. Yeah, anyway. I think that's as much Burtick as we can we can justify in a round one podcast unless he's taken out Carlos Alcaraz Deanna Schneider yeah David and I were watching this on the screen what we saw in the first set of her match against Kraychikova first set Kraychikova won was just Kraychikova looking peak just that smooth utterly distinctive tennis that is so emphasised by that neon racket that she plays with the sort of the arc of her racket through the air the lightsaber racket it's so different to any other tennis player she just cuts different shapes and forms on the court to anybody else and it was so wonderful to watch

23:27and that is not how the match ended no it's not um it ended with diana schneider winning it in three sets um and with kray chicover's knee just being an increasing factor through the match you know it's a factor as soon as she walks out because she's got enormous strapping on it like she's not hiding anything you know that there's an issue there and yet as you said played like a dream in that first set or she's she's such a unique combination of smooth and quiet but devastating like she is trying to take you apart with her game like there's a ruthlessness to her there is and it's it's it's surgical it's clinical the way she changes the direction down the line and creates angles with the forehand and knocks off volleys like it's it's brilliant and Schneider had no answer like Craig Chico was fantastic serving well as well but Schneider dug in well I was quite impressed with that like she even with a player playing so well she she kept fighting and just sort of grabbed her chances when it when they came and sort of kind of stole the second set in a way I really felt like Craig was still the better player in that second set but schneider pinched it she started to create angles of her own um latched onto a few returns started to read the crate of a game a bit better knew when she was going to go back behind that sort of thing holding her ground um and then in the third set schneider was the better player she was the the more sort of vibrant one on the court as the great cheek of a knee just became more and more of an issue and she she had some treatment on it and it really started affecting her particularly on the serve i felt like like she was sort of unable to properly push push off or push up because of the knee and it was just a terrible shame because it was kind of a you know it's kind of a microcosm of the great cheek of a career really like you see what what she's capable of the brilliant tennis but also the physical struggles came and and eventually held her back and yeah it was it was disappointing even if it was um a good effort from from schneider to turn it around and she was a real vibe in the encore interview afterwards talking about how she's going to seek out some highlights that of her match today because she enjoyed so many of the winners that she hit um which i which i thought yeah you do you that was you did hit some good winners you should appreciate those um yeah so it was it was a tough watch from a critique of a perspective yeah victorian bokeh also has some serious strapping going on with her knee like it it's alarming to look at she i mean she was playing with it all of last week in in adelaide and and reached the final um so i knew what i was in for when I went out to 1573 Arena to see a match against Emerson Jones.

26:41But still, sort of when you see her mummified leg, you're like, oh, God, I hope this isn't going to be sort of awkward and sad. But she seems unhampered in her movement. I hope it's precautionary or preventative or, you know, some sort of support rather than anything more serious. And she was great today against Emerson Jones, who is, this was just a reminder, she's a talented work in progress. She's a 17-year-old who looks like a 17-year-old. I don't think she's ever going to grow into Miran Draver in terms of her physical presence on the court. She's always going to be a bit of a mosquito type player.

27:33She's quick. She's very slight. I think for her size, she packs a good punch, but she's just never going to be able to pack an Mboko punch. It's a lovely ball she hits. And the backhand, I'm not pushing it on you, Matt, but it is lovely. People have tried pushing it on me famously at a live show. I'm keen not to be one of those people, but it is a lovely shot. And it's got, I was the media seats, which was, I had a bit of a situation with my seating in the media area. But I was just about able to see the players if I craned my neck in the right position in order to be able to see around the absolutely obnoxious Australian men in the Viking hats in front of me.

28:28horned Viking hats anyway she from my vantage point you could see the fly to the ball and very pleasing from Emerson Jones this lovely flat ball but she's 17 she looks 17 she spent all of her time scampering and she looks really good scampering but it can only get you so far against somebody like uh victoria mboko um so look i'll be interested to see her progress and i don't want to you know piss on the australian bonfire but give her a bit of time like the great and good of tennis australia were all out there in in the also craning their necks around the the the viking hats absolute assholes i mean can you imagine it hadn't even occurred to them that they might be in the way they might be in the way

29:38i've posted a picture of my my obstructed view uh on our instagram it's worth checking out folks um so yeah victorian boco through to the next round uh emma navarro her poor start to the season continues she lost in three sets to Magda Lynette former semi-finalist here of course Jessica Pergula who by the way Magda Lynette had lost nine matches in a row at slams wow hadn't hadn't won one since 2023 and look I I considered picking Lynette to beat Navarro because Navarro has not had a good start to the year she's not been in great form for a while but then I had a quick check of Magdalene Slam record and saw that and thought no I'm not going anywhere near that.

30:25Was that the year that she reached the quarter finals here? Semis. Semis. Yeah. Yeah with her spicy secrets they never materialised did they? No. And she had some issues in this one like she was getting a lot of treatment but still managed to win it. So yeah Navarro's poor poor form continues. Not a good start to the season. Pagula 2-1 over Anastasia Zakharova, the Russian player. She was, I know, got a new one. That's not how we pronounced her name yesterday. No. No, I've done some research since then. I could tell. Peguila was so good in this, and I think it might not mean anything because Zakharova wasn't good.

31:15and she's oh goodness me her service serve is weird you know the mary grillo line about if your serve requires good footwork you're probably doing something wrong i think she was talking about anastasia zharova because i've never seen so much footwork involved in a service motion i was just thinking you know the difference between pegula and kratikova as as players in terms of one always seeming available physically robust to play and or you know okay the odd first round of feet but the vast majority of the time in week two but krasikov has won two of them is big gula ever going to win one do you think 31 now i think it's unlikely i don't think she's in my mix but then I wouldn't be shocked big picture if she won a slam I would be surprised but not shocked yeah yeah she's on sort of on my radar to potentially win a slam but I don't think I'd ever like pick her to win the slam that we're in has she ever been in a mix I get the feeling that she was in a mix at Wimbledon She's been in mixes.

32:38I mean, she beat Eagles Film Tech, didn't she, on the eve of Wimbledon, who then went on to win Wimbledon. I think I picked her for an Australian Open once. But then I picked Paola Bidossa for an Australian Open once. She's got McCartney Kessler next, by the way, who we cooed over at the one-point slam briefly. Good player. She is a good player. Yeah. Good player, Meredith. Karolina Mukova beat Jacqueline Christian I think I need to stop saying that Jacqueline Christian is good because well she keeps losing I keep saying she's a tough draw change it to sneaky good maybe she's the anti-Paolini not as tough a draw as you think sneaky good gets you out of a lot of trouble sneaky good is a bit like yeah but I told you it's not that good but if he does win it's like see told you Right, oh, is that what you've been doing all this time?

33:36Always. That's how he keeps his credibility coming through. We need to learn. Jacqueline Christian, as I've always said, is sneaky good. Three and six for Mukava today. She also had strapping, but just the one body part, which is pretty good going for Mukava. And actually, I was hearing Pagula talk the other day about the fact that you will see a lot of players with their thigh taped particularly at the start of the season often it's the landing leg off the serve like they're apparently that's a very sort of weakness that builds up through not playing matches and therefore they interesting they sort of decide that actually started the season taping it up is a is a good sort of preventative measure just to sort of help you through and well that's exactly what it was for Mukova the left thigh yeah that's a landing that sort of landing leg off the serve because it's a body part you're going to put a lot of strain on over the course of a match that you've probably not been using so much through the off season.

34:38So it was good insight there from Pagula. I really support Karolina Mukhova taking precautions, taking whatever precautions she needs to against injury. Also possible that's not what this is and she's injured. She looked fine today. Let's put a positive spin on it. She looked really good. And Christiane, as discussed, sneaky good. so that's a great win in the next round she will face alicia parks who

35:05beat alexandra ayala of the philippines today in just a match with the most extraordinary scenes over on court number six the bar court it is sort of well sort of a show court it's got it's got the medium-sized stand with the bar at the back of it it's more than just one of the outside courts with with sort of standing area but it was nowhere near big enough for the utterly overwhelming volume of filipino fans or australian fans with filipino heritage or whoever that just wanted to support Alexandria today. But there were, you know, the place felt like Manila today. It was absolutely unreal. It was deafening anywhere in the vicinity of court number six.

36:07And there's a couple of different ways to look at this. Let's look at it first in terms of the match and how on earth Alicia Parks, David, withstood that atmosphere all against her and losing the first set six love to come back and win 6-3, 6-2 in the next two sets. yeah if if it wasn't so joyous on on one hand because who doesn't want to have an atmosphere like that at a sporting event and and it was it was incredible not only were the thousands inside that relatively small court but probably a couple of thousand I'm not exactly sure how many you can get in there but then there were also uh big screens put up that the organizers realized just how many people were on site that had come to support Alexandra Ayala on a grounds pass, because that's what this court was available to, and put it on all the big screens around the entire site.

37:06That was the only match you could see. And there were people sitting on a huge grass sort of slope. There were people sitting in all the public areas at the tables and chairs watching the big screen. But on the court itself, every time Ayala hit a winner, and in the first set, there were a lot of them i mean she won the first set six love she was playing out of her mind it was it was like she'd won the title pretty much every point and when parks won a point it was crickets you you i mean she had her own little pocket of support but it was basically silent um and disappointment as well you know if if she got a neck cord people were like oh Oh, you know, it's just, and how you withstand that.

37:56I mean, I don't exactly know how she managed it really, but she kept her composure throughout the entire match and found a way back into it and won. I mean, I think a huge achievement really by Parks, Alicia Parks. And look, it was packed and vocal and uproarious and joyous on court six, but also pretty much around the entire grounds at Melbourne Park, David, because this match was oversubscribed in terms of grounds pass holders that had seemingly come in just to see Alexander Ayala by seemingly a factor of about 50 to 1. like all of the bars all of the viewing areas even we kept on getting shots of a roof of the of a nearby stadium it might have been was it the Rod Laver arena that the shot was very close up if some if some men in quite a precarious looking position dangling this enormous Filipino know flag over the structure like it was it's something that um the journalist ben rothenberg has been talking about a lot over the last 24 hours in fact in his um substack bounces as soon as the order of play came out he raised an eyebrow at the court allocation of alexandra aala and said look i think they're underestimating the the volume of people that are going to be wanting to see alexandra ayala today and and and so that proved right and he's been tweeting about it a lot today and in fact in response to somebody that is that is quoted one of those ben rothenberg tweets uh they said if there's a filipino player in any sport always expect the filipino community to show up this will be a learning curve for the australian open and they've tagged the australian open in and the to their credit the australian open official account has responded to that and said hi uh we really appreciate your feedback we will take it as a learning and come back strong next year and look that's fair enough perhaps they could have seen this coming but you can't predict everything and you also have to balance a lot of things because players earn seedings and they feel like they should get court assignments based on having got themselves up in the rankings um you've got players like Stan Wawrinka who is who is coming back and needed a big court because it's his last his last year but overall I feel as though you have to try to satisfy public demand and sensibly house it because you had thousands there that that could have been in a big bigger court there yeah and maybe this forms part of a wider tapestry that we should touch upon about crowds at the australian open it's not something we've never never talked about before it feels like it's been an issue particularly in the in the opening days for the past couple of years and we get announcements don't we in the press room about attendance every day and they've been smashing attendance records by into smithereens the past few days yesterday on opening day they had their first first day of attendance over a hundred thousand ever at the australian open and obviously the tournament are crowing about this they're thrilled and on one hand that is brilliant the fact that that demand exists for tennis is a wonderful thing and i don't just want to piss on an Australian bonfire again but there is not unlimited supply of tennis for everybody to watch and there is not unlimited capacity at the Australian Open there is a limit to how much celebrating increased attendance is a good thing and we have had a number of messages on instagram on the barge people getting in touch in various different ways saying that they have had disappointing experiences at tennis fan as tennis fans attending the australian open particularly as grounds pass holders you know usually that's a that's a great trick at a grand slam isn't it get a if you're a proper tennis fan just whether you whether you can't afford or just don't want to fork out for a or maybe don't get lucky in a ballot for for a show court ticket for one of the opening days get a grounds pass and you'll still be able to see absolutely elite tennis on on an outside court and you'll see things that surprise you and make your heart sing and and all the rest of it and people aren't able to have that experience proper tennis fans aren't able to have that experience because you're having to queue for hours in some cases to get on these outside courts and unless you're prepared to kind of stay there all day as soon as you give up your seat somebody else in one of these hours-long queues is taking it.

43:24We've had, as I say, messages on the barge, some people, somebody saying that this was their first trip to the Australian Open and they won't be coming back. They barely were able to watch any tennis, impossible to walk through the grounds. And basically as a tennis fan, had an extremely disappointing experience. Now, it seems pretty clear, isn't it? There's a lot of people coming through the gates that that's not their priority. They might try and catch a bit of the tennis, but there's this festival atmosphere. There's lots of things happening besides the tennis and good luck to them. That's great.

44:03It's good to see lots of families and so on. But for that to be happening at the expense of the enjoyment of tennis fans feels like a tough scene. It feels like maybe a better balance could be there to be struck. Yes, and I think there's also a couple of particular things which we're seeing now with this new sort of scheduling of the two hard court slams, you know, starting on the Sunday and having only two matches during the day session on the main show courts. what happens is they've now got three days to play the first round rather than two so there's fewer matches on any given day so therefore they're you know there's less tennis for people to see if they're showing up you know and there's more people concentrated on one place because there's not loads of other matches happening and so that's one factor and then also the other factor is two matches on the main court very often in the early rounds that is a top seed against someone not in their class and it's one-sided and it's over quickly and then you get everyone on the main stadium pouring out to go and watch tennis on the outside court and there's not as much tennis on the outside courts as they used to be on the first few days of slams because they've got three days to play it rather than two so this confluence of factors plus the tournaments generally wanting to get more people in and having the capacity to get more people in because they've expanded the sites and they've put on extra entertainment it it just is creating an experience for a lot of people that is involving an enormous amount of queuing to watch tennis and not that much actually watching of tennis and yeah i i really sympathize look i know there's there's a lot of people i i was lucky to spend time with my friends trez and luke today and Trez was completing his fan slam today and like he couldn't have had a better day.

46:08Like he's had the time of his life and there are still a lot of people coming through these gates having those experiences, which is wonderful. But I just feel like sort of anecdotally, we're hearing more about some people who are having some sort of tougher experiences as well. And yeah, you sort of hate to see it and you just, I'm sure they are thinking about the organization, but it feels like maybe they're not, it's not top of their list. You know, like there are other things that they're putting ahead of fan, tennis, true tennis fan experience. And that's getting a little bit lost along with everything else that's just brilliant.

46:49But yeah, some of these organizational things are having an impact. And yeah, I think it's good to talk about them. Yeah, that's very well expressed. Intentionally blank is the enemy. yeah like there's so much intentionally you've got queues and queues of people trying to get on the outside court just to outside courts just to catch a glimpse of bertick van der zanskle meanwhile all the show courts are sitting amongst them sitting intentionally blank like what are we doing yeah yeah no he's he's worth the queuing time folks just very quickly on ar though um I think it's going to be important for us not to have like outsized reactions to her defeats and I'm not saying that we have done today you know but because I feel like her matches are constantly going to feel like these massive big deals and she's going to feel like a absolutely top ranked player because the amount of interest that there is in her and yet she's a young player still developing and that that support that she has which is she's absolutely phenomenal with it you know like she really appreciates it she understands it's a special thing she was she lost today but she was signing autographs for such a long time afterwards and talking about how she approaches these things with a spoonful of gratitude in her great little turn in her press conference but like none of that is like her doing really it just so happens that she is the only top player from her nation and there's this great interest in her and i just feel like she needs to be allowed the space to develop as a tennis player in the same way as someone who is from say the us where there's so many players and so many other attention can be because not all the eyes are on her like she's a great player but she's also a player who's got some pretty big fundamental flaws in her game and just because she's got this massive support she shouldn't be expected to be like doing phenomenal things does that make does that make sense like yeah it's important and and and i think um i think she absolutely understands that you just sort of hope that with all of this attention it sort of just just stays that way i'm a little bit concerned about that going going forward but i think I trust I do trust her I think I think she's fantastic yeah incredible poise yeah important very well said thank you Matt that is it for part one we will be back in part two to talk about the men and in part three to talk about sensation of the day but first of course a word from our wonderful sponsors of the tennis podcast throughout the Australian Open it is of course Steve Fergals International Tennis Tours, the premium hospitality and experience provider.

49:46And as well as that, of course, an official ticket and travel package provider for Roland Garros 2026. Why should you experience Roland Garros with Steve Fergals then? Well, with 50 years of tennis travel experience, Steve Fergals offer official access, thoughtful planning and premium options at one of the sport's most iconic events from tickets to hospitality everything is designed to enhance the experience without complication i think what they mean there is faff that you can't put faff in an official script i get that tennis podcast listeners of course can save 10 on roll on garras ticket packages with steve fergals to experience paris the official way you know what to do just go to tours for tennis.com forward slash podcast that's tours the number four tennis.com forward slash podcast and save 10 on your dream trip to paris with the code paris10 we'll see you there welcome back to part two of the tennis podcast on day two of the australian open and of course the main man's story is novak djokovic the man that simply becomes the main character of course whenever he steps on a tennis court and he was very comfortable today against poor old pedro martinez david three two and two for jacovic martinez he's lost first round of the main tournament he's gone out of the one point slam he's leaving here with virtually nothing poor old pedro yeah and he faced pretty much the best of novak jacovic today who was pristine um i i got out there onto the court at the end of the first set and i passed matt futterman of the athletic going the other way and matt futterman had been watching a first set yes he had breaking his own rule he had and his early impressions i said what do you think matt he said he is going after his shots big time.

51:56Have I been hustled by Novak Djokovic in a pre-tournament press conference? Well, I mean, look, I think it's understandable, I suppose, that he might have been slightly more up for play in the match than he was talking to us. But, I mean, look, I had the same impressions of him in that press conference as you did. He didn't look exactly full of the joys, and he didn't seem that up for it, and he seemed a bit knackered. Maybe he was, but he didn't look that way tonight. And when you walk into that stadium and turn around and you see the place absolutely full of your national colours and flags flying, how could you not be energised by that?

52:38And he was. He hit. I mean, I said to Matt Ferderman, And so it's like bully boy stuff then that he's, and he said, yeah, it's not, he's not waiting. He's going after it. He's pulling the trigger a lot regularly. He obviously was feeling really confident. He was feeling the ball well. And, you know, a couple of games into the second set or halfway through the second set, it flashed up on the screen that he hit 27 winners by then to single figures. I think six of Martinez. Now, Martinez is a perfect first-round opponent, really. He hits a nice ball in the slot, really, for Novak Djokovic, the level he's at.

53:22But it still takes the execution that Djokovic is able to produce when he's playing well. He's not always playing like that in the last year or so. This was a really encouraging first-round performance, I think. wow rolling back the years just like stan rinca on the kia arena david he dieseled all over laszlo gerrard it did it took him a few sets yeah and i mean look he's he's obviously i mean of course he's not the player he was but he's still one heck of a player and a competitor and the crowd absolutely loved him that was good court assignment from the australian open just big enough to get a really good size crowd in but intimate enough that it felt like just us you know it was i went out there for the for the for the final throws of that and uh and he he he played some it's less spectacular than it used to be there's not quite the gasp inducing backhands with regularity it's more canny he's playing canny backhand slices and and and getting himself out of trouble um but he found the shots when he needed to it was great stuff and i you know like he's always been such an explosive player as you say with rinka that's always what stood out but i i do always think that ability to be canny of his was always underrated like the way he developed a chip yeah was was something that served him so well through his career and just an ability to just keep the ball low and reset points is something he has always been able to do and he can rely on it now and you know as he as he's 40 years old and I I do think it's fascinating how it feels like there's been a mindset mindset shift since he's put this deadline on it you know like he's it seems to have freed him up and every match possibly being his last in a certain place means he's getting this incredible wave of support.